WATCHWORD:
5 All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord; myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness. 6 For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord? What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord? 7 The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne. Psalm 89:5-7
Meditation:
Invisible Spiritual Presence
Some time ago, in an issue of The Evangel, a publication of the Association of Lutheran Churches, I read an article by James Hoefer, entitled The Invisible Enemy. We may immediately think of Covid and how it had upended our lives and created a time of isolation in our usually socialized existence. It would be hard to argue about that.
In his article, Dr. Hoefer speaks of the power of darkness. He makes this statement: “A deeper dive into the Biblical portrayal of darkness brings some surprises! There we find that everything we see in the visible, physical realm is caused, provoked, or at least influenced by something in the invisible, spiritual realm.”
You may say, Spirits? Humbug! Everything can be answered with science or our five senses. Everything? Really? How about who you are? Science? Why are you here, reading this? Let me get my two cents in here: How about this old man writing a Christian book that gets published? Correction, two books, no, three. Hmm. How do you explain that with science or the senses? I can’t. In point of fact, I believe the writings of any author or journaling person, or the creative work of painter, sculptor, or composer, or singer, these are all the result of inspiration or gifts given by the Creator, King of the Universe.
I’ve mentioned Randy Alcorn and his writings multiple times. All of his writings are Christian, mostly nonfiction. One of his fiction books, Deadline, draws a vivid and believable and fantastical vision of heaven. But more than Heaven. He describes the spirit world. One of his main characters has died in a suspicious accident and has been greeted by an unusual character, that is neither spiritual nor angelic. This creature informs our hero that he has been with him since he was created, and every moment of his human existence. And now, he is the guide and teacher in his orientation to heaven, showing him around and bringing him face-to-face with Jesus and loved ones that went before him.
The story is a good read and you come away with a different and peaceful image of Heaven. The point is, we don’t really know nor do we fully understand the whole concept of eternal life. Yes, we read the Bible, and, maybe, carefully research it in great depth, but until we are there, face to face with our Creator God, we can’t really know.
Elie Wiesel tells of a conversation with a child: What are you writing, she asks. Stories, I replied. True stories? Stories about people we know? Some. Are they true? Some are. Well, if they aren’t true, they must be lies. Wiesel struggles with a response. How to explain the truth of story, when the content is made up or written to teach?
We are that child, and the stories are God’s story, His Holy Word. How do we understand His Word? Do we dig deeper? We may resist literal understanding of what we read in the pages of His Journal, our Bible. To me, there are three shades to understanding: If it is written in the Bible, I believe it, and I do. If it is written in the Bible, I believe it, but I struggle to understand it. Better yet, if it is written in the Bible, I want to understand it and I want God to help me find meaning. So, if you are like me, in the end, we talk with the Almighty and He communicates with us, through His Spirit within. Right?
Throughout the New Testament, the learned Jews struggled with what they were told and in their ignorance, they fumed. They did not understand, and that was their bottom line. They didn’t understand that their Messiah was standing there in front of them. He didn’t fit into their imagined power they took such pride in.
So, how does Wiesel answer the child? If a story is not true, yet teaches, is it a lie? How could a man become ‘living bread’, and feed us? What, indeed, is ‘Living Water’? Hmm. That requires thought, faith, and prayer. Amen.
Closing Prayer:
May the Lord bless us And keep us. May the Lord smile upon us and be gracious to us. May the Lord show us His favor and grant us and our nation, His Peace. Amen.
